


Sheikah Tech and Strange People

by TheCrowBitesDust



Category: The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Character Death Fix, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Link is mute, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, after the ending fic, champions are alive agian because i die for that trope, link has prosthetics, link is a sassy bitch, link is op but i love him anyway, the champions are tired, zeldas a scientist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2019-06-08 23:51:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15254802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCrowBitesDust/pseuds/TheCrowBitesDust
Summary: Link has defeated Calamity Ganon and realises his life has now gotten five times harder. Now he has four forgotten champions and an eccentric princess to watch over, and- ZELDA I SWEAR DOWN IF YOU DISMANTLE MY PROSTHETICS ONE MORE TIME!Fix-it fic in which after Link defeats Ganon the Champions are revived. Link now has to teach them- and the Princess, Zelda herself- how to live life in this vastly changed Hyrule while keeping up with the pretence that's he's still the same serious knight they knew... and not let them know he barely remembers them.Also Link has a guardian tech prosthetic arm and leg and owns the giant's horse who is now named Fluffykins.





	1. Facing the Calamity

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Aftermath](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12894459) by [BritishSarcasm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BritishSarcasm/pseuds/BritishSarcasm). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH  
> [what] link signing  
> [this should be italicized] link's thoughts  
> "yo wassup" normal speech 
> 
> Link CAN talk, but due to his selective mutism essentially never talks to humans, hence why he'll talk to himself and animals.

Link’s sight returned first, his shimmering vision slowly revealing a deep green grassy field. As more of his body reformed from the light he realised that these were the fields right outside Hyrule’s castle. He felt the last shreds of him reappear and the teleportation was over… and now he could see why he was outside.

 

The great swirling mass of the Calamity seemed to fill the air, thick clouds of smog stained with purple and radiating  _ evil _ swallowing the sky and the earth, and for a terrifying second Link thought he’d failed and Ganon would devour Hyrule. Then the clouds seemed to shrink, swirling and morphing with a sound akin to the sizzle of roasting flesh into a great smoky monstrosity. Huge tusks exploded out from a thick muzzle as the beast threw back its head and roared _. _

_ [Is that a fucking boar?!] _

A familiar whinny came from behind him, and he turned to see Fluffykins galloping towards him. Link could barely stop himself smiling at seeing the horse’s utter loyalty and love, and as the creature raced past he reached out with his right arm and grabbed the reins. 

The massive black horse yanked him off his feet- but Link was used to this and his prosthetic easily absorbed the recoil. He scrambled for a second against her side before his metal foot slipped into the stirrup and he swung himself onto the saddle smoothly, feeling the rush of a fight already bursting into his blood. During this little situation the huge boar beast had apparently finished forming- now, a huge smoky body marbled with purple lightning stood on gigantic legs where the malice had been. It stomped a hoof that was easily twice the size of Fluffykins (who herself was massive for a horse) and gave another warped bellow, two small angry eyes searching desperately for prey.

“ _ Are you ready Fluff? _ ” He hissed to the mare, who in answer sped up her run. 

Link grinned, twisting the reins so they were now heading straight through the Calamity’s line of eyesight, and prepared to yell. The rapid rhythm of the muscled back beneath him only heightened his instincts, and as they drew closer he locked his feet into the stirrups and dropped the reins.

“HEY!” 

His yell was accompanied by a foul screech from the demon beast, who'd seen his arm-waving form and heard his battlecry. It tried to kick out with a hoof- but Link had already planned for this. Rider and horse raced a large circle around the Calamity, too far away for it to try to strike them- but at the same time also too far away for them to strike it. [ _ Besides, who knows if my weaponry will even hurt the beast…] _

 

Just as Link began to flit through various attack methods in his mind a voice suddenly burst into his ears and swamped his thoughts.

_ “ _ Link!”

He started, years of battle instincts meaning he’d already half-drawn the Master Sword before he realised there was no threat (aside from, y’know, the  massive fucking boar made of pure evil  nearby). He sheathed the blade as Zelda spoke again.

“I entrust to you.. the Bow of Light.”

A spark in the sky twenty metres ahead blossomed into an arched golden bow, which Link snatched from the air as he rode past. He immediately realised it already had an arrow nocked and quickly drew it as they rode past the back of the boar. Just as they passed the hind leg Link fired, the arrow exploding outwards in a burst of raw lightning fury, burning straight towards the beast’s flank where it struck the clouds of darkness…. and vanished.

 

Link swore.

 

Zelda spoke.

 

“The energy covering Ganon’s body is called Malice. None of your attacks will get through as he is now.” 

 

Link swore again and with a light squeeze of his legs redirected Fluff even further away from Ganon as they continued their loop. He didn't understand how the princess wanted him to fight an essentially unkillable beast!

“I will hold the Malice back as much as I can, but my power is waning. Attack any glowing points that you see.”

He was suddenly extremely grateful he'd taken the time to master horseback archery.

Another squeeze led Fluff back towards Ganon, the horse and rider intuitively understanding their objective. From the corner of his eyes he could see the bow in his hand and wondered if his arrows would even work with it- that is, until a shimmer of light formed into an arrow that barely clung to the string. 

[ _ An auto-loading bow, huh? _ ] 

Then his attention snapped fully to the Calamity as it screeched out in apparent pain. A golden glow lit its shank and Link dug his heels into Fluff, the horse speeding up from a gallop to a flat-out canter as he lay almost flat against her neck. His hand dropped the reins and he drew the bow, holding it low against his side. Wind dragged at him, snatching at him, whipping his hair and his clothing back. The glow grew brighter as horse and rider drew closer, and Link focussed his full attention on the spot.

 

“Now!”

 

Zelda’s voice was the proverbial trigger and he whipped the bow up, the arrow soaring through the air, exploding in a burst of black tarry blood and golden sparks in the dead centre of the spot.

Link leant back down against Fluff as the horse turned, planning to continue a much tighter loop around the boar now he could hurt it-purple lightning flashed across his path. 

Fluff balked, sliding over the grass as she reared back. The Calamity screamed. Another burst of lightning lit the air. Link pulled hard on the reins and Fluff shot to the side, narrowly avoiding the second attack. 

However, this dodge had forced them closer to the Calamity and it kicked out. Link could barely control the mare as he wrenched on the reins, throwing his arm out to protect them as the horse skidded on the soft earth. 

The metal buckled and sparked as the sheer power of the blow leapt through it, and even the Guardian technologies couldn't dampen the recoil enough to stop Link being thrown from his horse’s saddle.

“Shit!”

Link rolled against the hard ground, the blow racking his body as he pulled himself up. Ahead he saw Fluff galloping away from the beast and realised there was no way the mare could get back to him, so close to the Calamity, without dying.

His mind immediately raced. He was fortunate- apparently the boar’s eyesight wasn't great, and it hadn't realised Link had fallen. It continued to rage and launch fruitless attacks towards the distant horse. For now, the hero was relatively safe, hidden as he was in the blind spot of the beast.

The only issue was how he was meant to get back to Fluff. 

 

A crackle of sparks shot from his right arm along with a sudden burning pain that only added to the ache filling his body.

[ _ Fuck. The only two issues is how I can 1: get back to Fluff and two: fight with my arm like this] _

He took a breath and gave his arm a quick once over. The dark metal had buckled and quite a few wires were openly exposed and sparking. A couple of the strange lights that ran up his arm had cracked, and their glow was far weaker. He hadn't seen damage this bad since he’d fallen off that cliff when the Master Cycle Zero had crashed. Link tried wiggling his fingers. He could move them up to his ring finger and pinky, which didn't respond at all. He then tried flexing his arm. A few more sparks and another dose of pain, but it moved, although far more sluggish then normal. He mimed drawing and shooting a bow, and found although his fingers didn't quite curl right and his arm twisted up in an obviously unnatural way, he could (probably) still shoot. He then gave his leg a check- but that prosthetic was functioning fine albeit a few missing toes and quite a few more dents. His body seemed ok, no broken ribs or anything (though he suspected his right shoulder blade, the one that anchored his prosthetic, might be fractured) as fortunately his arm had taken the majority of the blow. But the worst damage befell his poor Sheikah Slate… the screen was shattered and no lights lit it. He knew it was self-repairing, but that took time which he didn't have. His plan of using the Master Cycle was shot.

 

Now how to get back to Fluff?

 

Running was very obviously not an option. The only Champion's Abilities he hadn't exhausted were Daruk’s Protection and Mipha's Healing. He considered using his own Champion Ability, of slowing down time, but that only worked when he was in the air and didn't really move him that far forward. He wished he was a Rito, so he could just fly up above the Calamity-

[ _ Wait a second, I can fly!] _

He groped through his strange expanding pouch, the one that was inexplicably far bigger inside than outside, and found his paraglider was still in good condition. He also found some lumps of wood and his Flame Blade. [ _ Perfect!] _

The issue was that if he started a fire Ganon would very much notice, and right now the boar only needed to lie down to crush Link beneath him. 

He weighed his options. At this point both outcomes were likely to result in death. 

  
  



	2. Ganon's Defeat

The dry wood caught instantly. Link ran forward, jumping into the sky just as the beast above him sensed the flames and bellowed. Unfortunately for it, Link was already soaring above Hyrule Field upon his paraglider… quickly losing height.

 

[ _ Fuck _ .] 

 

But he had one last trick up his sleeves. As Ganon snapped and slavered beneath him Link took a deep breath, focused, and…

Time slowed to a crawl around him and gravity seemed to halt as Link activated his very own Champion’s Ability- Time Breathe.

He pulled his bow from his pouch, launching bomb arrows and fire arrows a dozen a second. The air felt thick, cloggy, like swimming through mud, and he couldn't breath. His muscles burned and his lungs screamed in pain as he launched his final volley and then threw his bow over his shoulders, pulling his paraglider from his pack as his power vanished. Immediately gravity slammed into him like an enraged Lynel as he dragged in quick sharp gasps, lungs burning with each breath; but the plan had worked. Below him, Hyrule Field was a total conflagration, only the malice-soaked ground around the Calamity unlit. The dry heat and smoke of it made him cough, eyes streaming and skin blistering, but it also picked up his paraglider and sent him spiraling up into cleaner, cooler air. 

And there was Fluff, now galloping towards him but looping around the flaming area. Link tilted his glider and soared in smoothly, the mare beginning to match his descent as she galloped below him- one two three and he dropped onto her saddle, paraglider shoved hastily back into his pouch.

 

The Master Sword’s sacred fire burnt into his spine and the bow in his flesh hand seared against his palms as he brought it up again to launch volleys of pure light at golden glows within the malice, Fluff’s fur and flesh beneath him hot and foaming with exertion, his own skin soaked with the overwhelming heat of malice and effort as his arm erupted sparks and sent violent shocks along his spine. The right side of his face was bloodstained from a cut on his forehead from the malice’s lashings, and his left guardian eye sparked and smoked as its blue light tried to focus on the boar-beast. It was exhausting, repetitive, this battle of wills and force against such a girthy beast; run round, strike the glows, run away, repeat. 

 

And yet Link was not the only one growing tired. The Calamity’s attacks grew more frantic and instinctive as more and more of its health was snatched from it, more and more wounds torn and gaping in its sides. The swirling malice was stained with thick tarry black- the blood of the primal beast that turned the earth below it bleak and brown. As the former champion sent yet another arrow into its knee it collapsed, unable to support its own weight any longer as it abandoned all cunning to launch attacks in a desperate final stand.

 

Link handled Fluffy’s reins with the precision and expertise of one who had spent months upon the roads, and dodged and darted through Ganon’s brutal attacks with often barely a hair’s breadth between the horse and the evil, spinning and twisting between malice like some sort of ritual dance, the horse and rider as one in this primeval ancient fight against an even more ancient evil. In the swirling light and thick smoke their forms blurred, twisted, one second a horse and rider the next a gigantic bird and a green silhouette the next a blue-eyed wolf and grinning demon, illusions that vanished as quickly as they'd appear as Link drew closer, closer, closer to the beast’s great head and-

 

_ NOW, LINK!! _

 

In a motion as fluid as water he leapt from the saddle instantly drawing the blindingly bright bow.Time slowed to a halt. He saw the beast’s gigantic eye, met its fiery gaze. He felt something rise from deep within him, felt the spirit and will of the hero overtake his body and suddenly he saw in that moment visions of of Gerudo-like men with armour of shadows and piglike beasts with tusks like swords all share that exact gaze; he saw a great scaled monstrosity meet his- no, not his, the first hero’s glare and suddenly he understood what it meant to be the chosen hero as he learnt of the cycle that began it all. It was not with hatred, nor anger, that he released the arrow, but rather understanding that this was how it had to be, this was how it would always be, an endless cycle that no technology could ever prevent. And as the arrow struck true in the beast’s massive eye he looked back at it and felt the hero’s will burn in his veins.

 

Ganon  _ screamed. _ It was a sound of pure and utter pain, hatred, vile and sickening in its shrill ungodly screech as Link landed again only to watch as the creature bucked and shook, malice erupting with black blood, skin tearing and bones snapping as the creature was impaled from within by great spikes of golden light, its dying screeches sending boulders down mountains and shaking the earth itself as it was torn apart by blinding beams.

 

The last thing Link saw of the Calamity was its baleful eye that spoke solely of its promise to return.

 

**_This is not over yet, Hero. This will never be over._ **

 

Golden light consumed it and in one last final bellow it exploded, leaving behind a barren, blackened field covered in cracks and soaked in blood.

 

And standing amongst the smoking ruin was a young woman in a filthy white dress.

 

“Link?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heeeeee h   
> the ganon fight was originally four chapters long but i last minute decided to cut all my work n rewrite to shorten the fight to only two chaps becuz i want to move onto the crack/meeting the champions again. so uh yeah next chap is meeting the champions and finally getting lighthearted stuff
> 
> update on how link looks in this fic: his left arm & leg are replaced with sheikah tech prosthetics, and the left arm/shoulder tech continues up his neck and replaces a small amount of the left side of his face (along back of jawbone mostly) and his left eye has been replaced by a guardian-like blue eye. part of his chest is also armoured. However, the technology can disguise itself to appear as normal flesh when link has full hearts. A quarter health gone n the arm shows, half n the leg shows, 3/4 and the eye shows. Link normally has the face tech/guardian eye disguised in this fic, so itll only become a point of notice when hes pretty badly hurt.


	3. A Corpse's Explusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ganon isn't quite gone yet, and he has one last surprise to gift to our protagonists...

Her smile was bright, beautiful as she met his gaze.

“Link… we did it! We defeated the Calamity!”

She was so earnest that Link felt his own lips tug into a smile, yet…

_He didn't know who she was._

Wait… no, he recalled the old man's words, about “his daughter, Zelda”. This had to be Zelda, surely. And the more he thought upon it the more he remebered from various travellers and of course Impa about the girl and mentally slapped himself for forgetting.

Though that was nothing new to him.

“Link?”

It was a softly spoken question, concern lacing her voice as her smile faded to a look of worry. He realized he'd been spacing out and quicky raised his hands to sign so- Zelda's gasp of horror stopped him.

“Link! Oh goddesses, Link, your arm!” Zelda’s gaze was locked onto the prosthetic, her face full of horrified concern and some trace of fear as Link looked at her in confusion.

_What does she mean, my arm? Is it because it's broken?_ And then he remembered how Impa and Sidon and Purah and Robbie,  all who knew him before, had reacted the same way. He knew that before the Calamity, in the past he couldn't remember, he had no prosthetics- but surely if Zelda had apparently been the one to send him to the Shrine of Resurrection she should've seen how bad his wounds were. Surely she did not expect the shrine to just put him back to the exact same as before. He'd woken up with scars covering his skin and technology welded to his bones- hell, she was the one to awaken him! She should’ve seen, surely! Also, can she not see his guardian's eye or even his sparking leg?! Could she-

_Telepathy does not equal sight, idiot. Also, your eye's already repaired itself enough to camouflage and you're wearing trousers._   _Besides-_ But his mental tirade was cut off as Zelda spoke again.

“Link… I'm so sorry…” Her voice was so soft and full of sorrow, and Link could only feel awkward as he stood there. Fuck it, he'll try to comfort her. He raised his hands again, slowly, and began to sign in large over-the-top gestures, using simple fingerspelling and basic textbook vocabulary.

“ ** _Zelda, it's okay. My wounds were bad, yes, but they_** (probably, he added internally) **_weren't your fault. The Shrine healed me, and I know no other means of life, so they do not bother me in the slightest…_** ” He stopped when he realized she was staring at him uncomprehendingly. “... ** _do you not understand Hylian Sign?”_**

The blank look she was giving him said it all. Fucking fantastic. She didn't know Hylian Sign. He sighed and reached for his Shiekah Slate to write out his words when he remembered it was currently busted.

“Link, did you… is your voice gone?” she asked, and he simply nodded in answer.

Internally though, he was confused out of his mind. Did he talk in the past? He knew Impa had looked at him oddly when he signed to her, but she had said nothing else. Oh wait, no… he’d overheard her telling Purah that “he always was one of few words”.

He lowered his hands and looked about him for something to write with when suddenly-

_NEIGH_!!

He turned sharply on his heel, the fires of knight training still burning despite his memory loss, only to get bowled over by Fluff’s enthusiastic nuzzling. The gigantic horse was sticky with drying sweat, mud and blood (both Link's and her own), and as Link recovered from her rough affection he felt guilt pang heavily in his chest. He'd pushed her so hard, yet had barely spared her a thought once the Calamity had fallen.

A soft gasp broke horse and rider from their brief gentle moment.

“Goddesses…” Zelda gawped at the oversized mare, the scholarly nature of the princess already itching to write down this new find. All previous thoughts forgotten, she scrambled closer to Fluff (who now stood quite happily beside Link as he gently pet her thick neck).

But before anyone could make a move, the air turned cold. Fluff suddenly froze, head up, ears flat as she snorted and dragged a hoof anxiously across the floor, and Link's grip sought the familiar feeling of the hilt of the sacred sword as strange light seemed to cast a glow around them all; the source was Zelda, who'd raised her hand to cast a protective sphere of sacred light about them.

And not a moment too soon.

Like water rising from a flooded well, shadow erupted from the ground, streaked with familiar purples and reds that sent icy fear ripping into both their nerves. The darkness heaved and squirmed, and Link barely had time to seize Fluff's reins as she instinctively threw herself away from the pulsating slimy mass, Zelda's bright protection the only barrier between them and the thumping slimy filthy goop that flushed around their little sphere, a mudslide of darkness, the ugly remains of rapidly rotting organs and flesh liquifying before their eyes as it was entirely and totally rejected by Farore’s sacred earth. Ganon's power flared one last time, a corpse spitting out its last meal, and-

The rotting remains were disintegrated totally by Zelda's bright burning sacred flame.

Only to leave behind four particular shapes...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its been a long time.


	4. Reunions One- Mipha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning- Link experiences the beginnings of a traumatic flashback in this chapter. Also, minor self-harm mention.

Zelda had already run forward, and the sacred light in her grip burnt away the last of the Calamity’s filth. 

“Are you okay?” she sputtered as she tried to check the closest person- a red-skinned Zora.

Mipha opened her eyes slowly, then upon seeing Zelda a great gasp burst from her and she flung her arms around the princess. 

“I’m so sorry Princess! I'm sure you fought valiantly up to the very end, and your sacrifice-”

 

She stopped when she saw Link.

He'd not moved an inch, and but for the soft rise and fall of his chest appeared as still as a corpse. 

 

Under Mipha's searingly beautiful gaze Link felt a part of himself scream in agony and grief and shocked joy. But that part was small, near-forgetting, a handful of hazy memories and a lingering trace of love. The rest of him sat in quiet shock, unsure what to do in the gaze of essentially a stranger. His fingers began to twist the rein they held, the leather squeaking in the crushing grip of guardian metals, but the sound was unheard to Link. 

 

And then the moment passed and suddenly Link felt a weight fling itself against him. It was only soldier's stoicism and his prosthetic leg locking up that stopped him stumbling back into the mud as Mipha attempted to squeeze the life out of him. 

“You….can't…. be…. dead!” she sobbed, clinging to him as if he were the only thing in the world.

 

Gently he attempted to return her hug, yet struggled to place his real right arm on her skin without that tiny hazy part of him crying out in desperation. Every touch of her cool rough skin against his own toughened flesh brought back faint memories of far better times- and with those memories came the ones he'd tried to bury. They always came back; parasites clinging to the wake of other memories, cruel harsh reminders of his past. 

He knew what would come next.

They'd drag him under the darkness with them, down and back to times of terror, forcing him to relieve his pain until he snapped back to reality screaming with bloody hands and tear-streaked face. 

 

And so he gently but forcefully pushed Mipha away from him, already seeing the flickers of the past around her, on her, seeing blood staining blue water red, seeing rosy skin ripped wide open-

_ IT'S NOT REAL! _

He didn't realize his heart was racing, breath coming in heavy quick pants. Link forced himself to take slower breaths, the soft reassuring warmth of his horse's muzzle pressed against his back grounding him. 

Mipha blinked up at him with teary eyes and it was solely thanks to Fluff's steady presence that Link didn't collapse right then. 

Evidently the Zora felt the same. Mipha's knees gave out and Link grabbed her before he realized what he was doing. Thankfully he'd caught her with his left arm, and though Sheikah technology was highly advanced the Shrine of Resurrection apparently viewed touch as a low priority. As such he felt nothing as he supported her.

"...You're really… I'm… the Calamity… where are we?"

Mipha had seemed to at least hold onto her voice, and though her words were shaky she sounded more secure than her outburst of before. Golden eyes met cerulean in clear confusion.

"We're outside Hyrule Castle. Mipha, Ganon is dead. We killed it!" 

It was Zelda who answered her.

Mipha looked over at the princess as if she'd only just realized she was there.

"The Calamity… dead? But that means…"

She looked down at her palms like she was expecting them to be gone. With hesitant motion, the Zora princess touched the floor and gave an audible gasp when it resisted against her touch.

"I'm… alive?" 

"It seems so. It's almost as with the death of the Calamity, it repaired a fraction of the damage it wrought..."

Mipha only seemed to half hear the princess as she came to a sudden realization and looked up at Link sharply.

"That means… you're still alive!"

And she rushed forward to hug him again, Link preparing to dodge when they were both stopped short by a drawling sarcastic tone.

"What a  _ touching _ reunion."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: oh dont worry i'll write something lighthearted and crack-esque   
> also me: ANGST TIME BABY
> 
> i'm posting each champion individually in smol chapters like these for now- i promise after reunions and a chapter where they go to a stable there will be more humour i sweAR


End file.
